Kahu's Manao

Keawala‘i Congregational Church
United Church of Christ (USA)

First Sunday After Christmas
Sunday, December 27, 2009

The Rev. Kealahou C. Alika

“Who Is This Child?”
1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26 & Luke 2:41-52

Two days ago we celebrated the birth of Jesus. Biblical scholars and others speculate about Jesus’ childhood. Except for our reading from The Gospel According to Luke, the accounts of Jesus’ life that were recorded by Matthew, Mark and John say nothing of his growing up years.

Our reading from The Gospel According to Luke essentially skips over twelve years of his life. “Who is this child?” we wonder.

The question has been answered by angels, Mary, Elizabeth, shepherds, wise persons from the East and so many others. But for the first time it is Jesus who gives an indication of who he is to become when he says to Mary and Joseph, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s (sic) house?” (Luke 1:49) It is this exchange between Jesus and Mary and Joseph that sets the stage for Jesus’ baptism (Luke 3:21-22), the beginning of his ministry and his preaching (Luke 4:14-30).

It occurred to me when I woke up yesterday morning that in less than 24 hours we would be gathering here for our time of worship. With all of our preparations for Christmas Eve it turned out to be a very, very short week. I wondered what I might say that would have any significance.

On the drive in from Wailuku to Mäkena yesterday, I tuned into the Saturday Morning Edition on NPR or National Public Radio. As I drove pass the National Wildlife Refuge between Ma‘alaea and Kïhei, Scott Simon told the all too familiar Christmas story in the form of a fable. It was called “Away in a Factory” and described as “a holiday fable for 2009: a homeless couple, wise people bearing gift cards, a newborn swaddled in failed newspapers and a lesson of unconditional love.”

I found myself touched by what was an improbable modern-day version of a very ancient story. Late yesterday afternoon I went on the internet and found the story online at the NPR web site.

The story was available only in an audio, not printed, form. I decided it was worth transcribing. The clock on the web site indicated that the audio ran for 2 minutes and 35 seconds. By the time I was done with the transcription a lot more than 2 minutes and 35 seconds had elapsed.

This is the story:

“Joseph and May hitchhiked to an abandoned factory near Cleveland. Their unemployment compensation had run out. Joseph was a carpenter but the only work going on in his neighborhood was boarding up store fronts.

He and Mary had no place to live and Mary was pregnant. She told Joseph he would be the child’s father but he wasn’t the child’s father. The spark that began the life of their child she said came from – well – it was too embarrassing and ridiculous for Joseph to report.

Friends told him he was being taken for a fool but Joseph loved Mary and knew the last few months had been hard. He decided that whatever fantastic stories Mary told him, he would have the child as his own.

That night Mary had a baby boy. He seemed healthy, wrinkly, and had a nice loud cry.

Mary swaddled their baby in old copies of bankrupt newspapers and laid him down on the back of an abandoned car. A stray, gray dog grimy from the road and whimpering with loneliness kept watch over the baby and warmed him with her panting. Joseph also put his iPhone close so their baby could be lulled to sleep with a lullaby.

That night a star appeared in the East. Three wise persons – Warren Buffett, Alexander McCall Smith, and Monica Ali came to behold Joseph and Mary’s child. They wanted to bring him gold, frankincense and myrrh, but that hadn’t been available since Lehman Brothers collapsed so the wise people brought gift cards . . . The infant saw them and smiled. Mary saw the look of delight in her child’s face and said to herself, ʻHe’s happy with this.’

She saw Joseph was sitting by himself at the far end of the garage and knew he was worried about how he was going to make a life for their child. Joseph came back to the car, his eyes glimmered: ʻI think I finally understand,’ he said, ʻwhy we’re given the gift of this child. It doesn’t matter who the father is, does it? Every child cries for our love and deserves our care.’

ʻEvery child who’s hungry in Sudan or cold in Cleveland; every little girl who’s abandoned by a roadside in China; every little boy in (the) Congo who’s dragged into someone’s army; every little boy and girl anywhere who’s threatened by an epidemic, explosion and indifference. I must love them as a father loves his child.’

Mary and Joseph sat with their arms around each other and their baby boy.

The dog who they decided to adopt on the spot hopped up on the seat beside them and put he head gently in Joseph’s lap. The star that found them seemed to stay above them for a moment while their child breathed softly, safely, peacefully in their arms looking out at a world that seemed suddenly new.”

We may wonder what others have to say about what happened to Jesus during his growing up years. We may want to know about his childhood – about his brothers and sisters, about how he learned to read, about how he became a carpenter, about how he spent time in the synagogue and Temple; and about how he felt about his mom and dad.

But it seems to me the Christmas story was never intended to be a biography of Jesus’ life but a story about God’s “unconditional love.” In the fable, Joseph comes to the realization about what he must do. “I must love every child as a father loves his child. I must love as God loves - unconditionally.”

That may be the lesson for us this Christmas season. May we see in every child that cries out for our love, the face of the Christ child and to know that each one deserves our care.

Though days have passed since Christmas day, but the Christmas season is far from over. We will continue to celebrate for ten more days. We will celebrate the birth of Jesus as a gift of God’s unconditional love; a gift we are to share with others.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

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